Aging Focus Area

MSW Resources

The Aging focus area prepares students to work successfully in a variety of settings that tackle the unique and intersecting issues related to health, aging, and disability.

All students in this focus area learn advanced practice skills in brokering, care/case management, assessment, and interdisciplinary teamwork. They develop knowledge and skills around cutting-edge social work topics such as consumer-directed care, consumer-centered assessment, and end-of-life care.

Students also learn about current services and policies related to health, aging, and disability, and critically examine opportunities for policy and program improvements. Students who graduate with this focus area are well-trained to take professional positions in a variety of settings from community-based service programs and organizations, to hospitals and residential facilities, to policy positions at the state and national level. Students may specialize in one or both of these areas by:

participating in field units devoted to this area of specialization, or social policy (aging placement)

choosing among specialized advanced practice electives within the focus area (e.g., Aging and Mental Health, Social Work Practice in Health Care, or Social Work and Developmental Disabilities).

To learn more about opportunities in field education, check out these videos: